Dungeon Lords
by Furiouswind
Summary: She would have her revenge, no matter what. To avenge her family, she would sacrifice all to gain power. Power that was meant to be left alone. But she will rise to the top of the Keepers, to succeed her father and become the new Dungeon Lord
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I really really REALLY wanted to finish this before posting, but i ran out of ideas to continue, and therefore decided to just heck it and post.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dungeon Keeper 1 or 2.... i really wish for three though.

* * *

**The Child**

Clutching tightly onto her drenched and water-logged cloak, she continued to run. To continue down the path her mother had shown her. It was her only salvation. She dared to turn back. Down the hill from which she came, lights, hundreds of them, dotted the scene. Fear struck her cold. She turned back and continued to run. As fast as her small legs could take her.

To where exactly, did this road take her, she did not know. She did not care. The dark trees that she ran past seemed to stare at her very movement, her very breathing. From lively lush green leaves, the trees now were bare, cold and empty. Still, she persisted. But running on mud had its consequences. She tripped, tumbling into the dirt face first. She wanted to cry, but held her tears. With hand clutching onto a small pendant around her neck, she carried herself up, and continued.

The dark clouds that poured the heavy rain over her head seemed to just slow her down, clouding her vision, making her way nearly never-ending. But soon, she reached it. It was unmistakable. A giant castle ruin. Judging by its structure, she was sure that it was once a beautiful castle. Now left in shambles, no one ever wanted to go near it. Still, she went in. Pushing the large wooden doors that were still relatively intact, she at last, gained shelter.

But her pursuers were still there, and that she knew very well. As grand as ruins may be, there was no possible hiding place for her. She clutch her pendant tightly, squeezing her eyes shut, all the while the image of her mother's smile imprinted in her mind. Angry shouts could be heard from behind the door.

Startled, she stumbled backwards, picked herself up again, and darted from the main hall. Running through the empty stone corridors, she did not stop. Her breathing heavy and hard. She did not know where to go, but her feet ran. She stopped. A small wooden door by the side which could prove to be her salvation.

She did not know where it led, but it was her best option at the moment. Running inside, she immediately, lost her footing, and fell down what felt like hard stone steps. She was still conscious when she stopped falling. Her legs were covered with bruises, cuts, abrasions and her right leg was twisted. Still determined to go on, she got up, and limped in the darkness.

She wanted to hide. But this room, what seemed to be a cellar when her eyes adjusted to the dimness, held no proper hiding spot. Exhaustion finally catching up to her, she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. That was when the wall to her left shifted suddenly. It caught her full attention, and she stumbled back away from it. The wall made a sort of crumbling sound, the bricks looking like they were coming off.

Correction, being pushed out from behind. The sounds of pickaxes furiously impacting against from the other end of the wall. She was frightful. Had her pursuers finally caught up with her? Then, the wall collapsed, and a tiny head popped out. At first, she was startled by its appearance. Small in size and brown skinned.

Carrying a large bag on its back, it stared at her with its extremely large black eyes. It made a weird hand gesture, then, she knew what it was. It was signalling her to follow it. She did not know whether she could trust it, but at the moment, she had no other option. She limped off the wall and followed it into what appeared to be an underground tunnel.

Garnering her courage, she followed the creature deep into the tunnel, just as many more of that creature sped past them, either going in the same direction as them, or the other way. The tunnel seemed to descend deep into the earth, and the deeper they go, the more she felt afraid. She did not know what would happen to her, but for now, this is her best bet.

For what seemed to be hours, the creature finally led her into a large cavern. No, not cavern. Room. the creature led her through mazes of corridors, past countless hallways, and even more doors, from which came sounds that she could not even imagine. Then, she saw something. Darting from around the corner at an extremely fast speeds, three, no four, dark shapes ran towards her.

Frightened at first, but then she took a proper look at the shapes that had stopped in front of her. Dogs. But these had two or three heads on each body. With blood red eyes and sharp fangs, she strangely did not feel alarmed. These dogs were large, larger than what she was more accustomed to see. The dogs gave a whine and sat down on their hind legs, panting at her, as though expecting something good.

She did not have anything in particular, so she did the next best thing, pet the dogs on the head...s. The dogs gave an approving whine, and sped off. She was rather baffled by their behaviour, but she guessed they had something to do. She followed the first creature once more, till they reached a large pair of iron doors. The size of the doors was already imposing, being able to move a building through it.

By the doors, stood two purpled colour creatures, each holding onto a spiked club and a shield. Both looking grumpy and menacing, not to mention tall. The first creature went up to the doors, and the two guards did not even give it a glancing look, though it may be because they were more interested in her. Their dark stare seemed to bore through her very soul. With a loud churn, the two iron doors swung open, as though operated by machinery.

The first creature gestured her to enter, and she did, though it did not. Behind her, the doors closed gently, leaving her in a vast empty room. Or was it? She had noticed it before, since it looked just like any other odd thing in this place, but there was an extremely large orb in the middle of the room, atop of a structure that looked as though it was made to support something really important, like in a temple.

Then, the orb pulsated, completely taking her by surprise. The orb's beat, lighting up each time it did, was like a heart. A giant heart. Where exactly was she? Was it a mistake to follow that creature? She simply hoped, that no more weird creatures would appear. The orb pulsed again, then stayed silent. She did not what to expect. It was... odd. She took steps forward, only cautiously.

Stepping up the grand steps, she reached the orb. It had a smooth polished surface. She felt warm. It was comforting, and the feeling reminded her of her mother, gently stroking her hair, her warm smile. The orb suddenly flared, blinding her. She staggered back, and her foot missed the step. She fell back, but what she expected to be hard floor, a pair of strong arms caught her instead.

She looked up to her rescuer, and what she saw quite shocked her. A human. Wearing grand black robes with a hood over his head, the man gently brought her back up to her feet. She was confused. Who was this person? And what was he doing in this place? The man reached out for her pendant, and gently touched it, stroked it. Pulling back his hood, she saw his face for the first time.

It wasn't entirely human, but still held many resemblance to one. His face was coarse and rough looking. Dark long hair that seemed to flicker like flames. His dark eyes seemingly deep and infinite. Her eyes were just the same. In a way, he was all too familiar to her, yet she did not remember him at all. After a brief silence, he spoke, voice filled with power and authority, yet it also held warmth and comfort for her.

"You are Seferia's daughter, are you not?"

It sounded more like a confirmation, than a question. But she did not mind that. To her, it felt as though she can tell him everything. She nodded her head in reply to his question. The man studied her for quite some time, before he sighed.

"So the time has finally come, has it."

He turned back to the giant orb, and stared hard into it. With curiosity getting the best of her, she peered by his side to take a look. What she saw amazed her. Like a map that had real moving points, the orb displayed seemingly everything.

The small large-eyed critters that scurry about, the multiple headed dogs that ran amuck, the two purple skinned armed guards at the door, even them standing in this room with this orb. There were hundreds, no, thousands of creatures that walked in these giant halls under the deep earth.

The view shifted from the overhead view of this place, to the outside ruins of the castle she ran through to get here. Burning torches. Faces of the villagers. It frightened her, and without thinking, she grabbed onto his robe for security. He turned to her, and smiled, gently stroking her silver hair.

"I will not let anyone hurt you."

He reassured her, before turning back to the orb, and placing a hand on it. The orb flared fiercely, the air around the room intensified like she was drowning in water. It threatened to tear her lungs, but she resisted it. Then, she heard it. Thunderous roars echoing in the tunnels. The floor rumbled greatly, like the earth itself was threatening to split into two. She looked back to the orb, and saw it. Like water flowing through rivers, the thousands of creatures from the countless rooms of these halls rushed out and into the hallways, converging into the main hallway.

They were aiming for one place, the entrance to the castle. Like ants, they rushed forth, and the villagers, caught unaware of this, were easily overwhelmed. In a matter of seconds, the creatures dispersed, and retreated back into the halls of the deep earth. Nothing was left of the villagers. Not even a blood splatter. It was like they disappeared. The man sighed, and turned back to her. His smile was warm and comforting.

"You have nothing to worry now, my dear. I will protect you with all of my might, i swear this upon my name as a dungeon overlord. My name, is Val Dek Roth, ruler of the East, and most importantly, your father."


	2. Chapter 2

**Scales Off**

She didn't really mind the odd feeling she had every time she walked through the hallways. Every creature treated her with only the upmost respect, though some were giving her looks at times. Still, she did not really care. Turning at a corner, she entered the iron doors, stepping into an enormously grand room, with uncountable bookshelves that lined the room. Scores of books filled the shelves, while many more lay scattered on the floor.

She knew she was not alone in this room, with murmurs and nonsensical droning of researchers in the room going on. She walked along the aisles, intent on looking for someone. She was stopped abruptly as a tall robed figure seemingly glided out of one of the aisles in front of her. It was a tall, old, wizened man in a fairly large violet robe with intricate rune symbols placed upon it. The old man noticed her, and smiled warmly.

"Mel, what a nice surprise to see you here."

He closed the book he was looking through in his hands and bent down slightly to her level, stroking her hair.

"Berilion, is Vestrof in?"

She asked ecstatically. The old man peered over his shoulder, before looking back to her.

"Yes, he's over at the last aisle. Don't go pulling his scales again like you did the last time. The imps had to rebuild a quarter of the library because of his flames."

"I know."

She chirped, running over to the last aisle. Berilion, chuckled to himself, before turning back to his research, but once again, he was interrupted, this time, it was someone else. Looking down, Berilion saw the abnormally large eyes of an imp. Normally, he was irritated by imps just waltzing into the library and interrupting his research, but this imp was different.

Being larger than most imps, this imp had a very noticeable scar across its right eye. Imps, being magical creatures, would normally have no scars or injuries that would last very long, however, this imp was no ordinary imp. Even Berilion had to treat it with a certain level of respect, and he knew that this imp did more than to deserve it.

"... Dais. If you're here, that means..."

"Yes. The lord is looking for his daughter."

The imp said with a rather tensed up and high-strung voice.

"I do believe that our lord is rather soft-hearted when it comes to his daughter."

"It would be the same to all creatures, master Berilion."

Berilion winced at that title. Though most imps certain treated the other creatures with high regard and respect, hearing it from Dais, meant one thing. The lord is nearby.

"... It bugs me as to why he does not use the heart to look for her. That is one of the disadvantages of creating a semi-permanent body to reside in, never able to oversee the entire dungeon. Mel is at the last aisle. Tread carefully, Dais. She's with Vestrof."

"Thank you, master Berilion. As for your question, our lord is only doing this to benefit his daughter's well-being."

"I understand that. Oh, if you see the lord, tell him i have something of great importance to discuss with him."

"As you wish."

Dais bowed his tiny head, and scurried off to the last aisle, going after Mel, hoping she would not cause another fuss like before. Berilion turned back to his research, walking along the aisles once more, before he stopped. He sighed, placing the book aside and leaned against one of the shelves. He was getting too old to play with kids. The old warlock shook his head, turning to the door, with the book he had under his arm, wondering what he would eat.

* * *

He certainly did not like this arrangement, but he had no other choice. Personally, he would have used the heart to find her, but that in itself is rather troublesome as it would lead to the breakdown in parent to child relationship. Or so one of his warlocks told him. He continued to walk on, till he reached the door to the library.

He didn't really like walking around, and it initially took him quite some time to get adjusted. He was just about to push the doors open, when a terrible roar echoed from within. It didn't take him too long to realize that something was wrong. Barging in, he immediately sensed the commotion from the last aisle.

He rushed over, and his eyes fell upon a sight that should never be done with any other creature. The small girl, the object of his search, was clinging onto one of the scales of a green creature, a dragon, to be exact. The dragon, in particular, did not look too happy about it.

"MEL!"

He shouted. The girl looked over in his direction, and smiled.

"Daddy!"

She waved to him, and the motion caused her to accidently pull off a scale.

".... Uh-oh."


	3. Chapter 3

**Unforeseen Past and Present**

Pressing the leather bag filled with ice against his forehead, he looked at the scroll in his hand. Damages to the library, casualty rates, all adds to nearly a quarter of his current gold. He looked away from the scrolls for a moment, and looked down at the sleeping form lying on the bed at the side of the room. No matter how destructive she may be, she was still a child, his child.

He could not find any reason to hate her, or even blame her. He got up from his chair, walking up to his daughter. He gently placed his hand against her hair, which caused a slight groan from her. He pulled the covers of the bed over her small body, and walked towards the other end of the room, where an orb sat neatly on a stand, held in place by 'claws' from the stand.

He placed a hand over the orb, and it glowed a dull green colour. He concentrated upon the orb again, and the this time, images appeared within the orb. A woman, long silver hair, beauty radiating as clear as the sun. He could only smile sadly, watching the images run by itself, memories of the past.

"Seferia.... your daughter is just like you."

He muttered, stroking the orb, a fleeting hope to be able to feel her touch through the images. He sighed, remembering the past. His past, and how all of this came to be.

* * *

He was a young keeper. Sacrificing his body for power, he became one with his minions and dungeon. He was ruthless, feared by nearly all. All that betrayed him were mercilessly cut down, and all that opposed him, were wishing they were never born.

He was once human. A lowly apprentice to a powerful wizard. He made a mistake of reading his master's books in secret, which led to his banishment. Fuelled with hatred, he descended into a keeper's dungeon, and made a pact. Make him a keeper, and he will help that keeper rule the entire world. Foolish, and naive, like all keepers born from pure magic.

His first move, was to push his newly found force into the town where he once lived, killing all, including his own ex-master. He showed no mercy, and tortured those caught alive slowly, and personally. His powers grew with each day, and soon, the keeper who turned him, became aware of his true agenda, or at least, became afraid of his new powers.

The keeper tried to turn his own minions against him, but he knew before hand, and killed everything that opposed him, even his own men. He destroyed the keeper, and started his war, spreading his influence far and wide, recruiting the fiercest of creatures, mining vast amounts of gold, building up his powers.

He was unstoppable. Heroes from the world above tried to hinder his progress, as well as other keepers, but no one could stop him. Heroes were tortured till they died, or they bow down before him. Keepers, however, were not to be turned over so easily, and so they were cut down even in their defeat.

The heart of each dungeon, is the key to the keeper's powers, and their life source. He didn't just destroy each heart, he absorbed their powers. Some keepers tried to appease him, by surrendering to him, but he took the same course every time. Kill. His influence had by then spread to the entire Eastern and Southern regions, making him the strongest keeper during that time.

But, he hesitated. Within a small town, he saw her. A young human, whose beauty was stunning. Her smile was warm and genuine. He had never known that before. He would steal looks towards her, watch her laugh, sing, eat, sleep. He was memorized by her. It was because of her, that he stopped his mad expansion, he stopped mercilessly killing everything.

Because of her, he became human once more. But because of this, the other keepers, forming an alliance, pushed forward, retaking over the South. He came to his senses quickly. The town in which the girl was in, was on the border of the South. He quickly mobilized his forces, and pushed the insurgents back, but not before a skirmish by an ambitious keeper razed that town to the ground.

Angered, he relentlessly sent wave after wave of creatures against the alliance, and quickly brought them down under his grip. No one dared to attack him after that, for he was titled with the highest title in the keeper's world, dungeon Lord. But he didn't care for that. He quickly sent men to search the town, and by luck, he found her.

Unconscious, but nevertheless still alive. He brought her to his private chambers, and cared for her. He recreated his body, to be able to do care for her personally. Many of his creatures saw this as a weakness, but a quick pulse of magic force had ensured that he was still as powerful as always. The girl recovered quickly, awaking by the third day. It was interesting for him.

The girl did not seem surprised or afraid of him. She touched him on his cheeks, and said that she knew him. She had always known him, as someone who was always watching her. It was only later, did he find out that she was actually the daughter of a King from a powerful human nation. But that did not stop the two from falling in love.

The days they shared, were filled with smiles and laughter. He never thought he could feel those emotions. Then, came the fated day. A keeper, as foolish as ever tried to reclaim his land in the South. Amassing an enormous army, far greater than the lord's own, split his forces into two.

One half was to assault the South. The other, was to attack girl's home nation. He, though being a dungeon Lord, could not win on two fronts. He knew that other keepers were silently hoping for his demise, but afraid of taking action, they stood by the side, watching. The girl's nation had amassed an army to defend itself, but it was not enough.

When half of the nation's army collapsed before the onslaught, his army of creatures arrived as reinforcements. She did not ask of him to do this, yet he felt it was only right. With the combined might of his creatures and the human army, they managed to push the enemy off the surface, though the South was another story. His influence was weak to the South, and he knew he was losing.

She pleaded him to stop, to pull back his forces from her own nation, but he refused. He knew that his opponent might send a larger force against the humans, and that time, they would not survive. He was right. A second force, far larger than the first, poured from the caves and ruins, like a plague, swallowing the land.

It would all be over, if it weren't for the timely intervention of other keepers. Hailing from the North and West, the two dungeon Lords of those regions marched their armies to his aid. Keepers from his own territory, the East, rose up and aided his creatures in combat. An amazing sight to behold.

Once enemies, rivals, now stood up to help him. Even the dark Gods seemed to favour him, sending him an army of their own to aid him. An army of horned reapers. As soon as the reinforcements came, it was all over. The keeper who instigated the rebellion was put to death, his power shared among the dungeon Lords. But it wasn't over for him.

While the humans did thank him for his aid, they were appalled by finding that their own princess had eloped with him. He knew he had no choice, and sent her back to her country. But he shouldn't have. Her own people scorned her, for loving a demon, and her own father banished her to a remote village, but even so, she was locked up in a high tower. He could only watch her, once more. Then, came the day, she came.

"Mel."

* * *

He snapped back to his senses. The smiling image of Seferia still lingered in the orb. He sighed. Was it really the best choice to send her back? He did not know what had happened to her. Why were the villagers chasing after Mel? He knew that sooner or later, the King would be forced to execute his own daughter, and that was when he had planned to send his troops in to rescue her.

But, villagers? And Mel was a rather unexpected factor. Certainly, it was true that Seferia was an extremely talented magic user, but there was something within Mel, that spoke unmeasurable amounts of power. The very first time he saw her through the heart, he knew immediately, that she was no ordinary girl.

Of course, she wouldn't be, if she was born from Seferia, and himself. Their bloods would make an extremely strong combination within Mel. Yet, he did not know what her powers were to be exact. A slight knock came from the door.

"... Come in."

He said, waving a hand over the orb, silencing it of its power. The door creaked open, and the tall, fragile figure of an elder warlock stepped in, head hung low to him.

"My lord."

"Berilion. What news do you bring?"

"One that may not be pleasant."

".... Speak."

He said, though he wished he hadn't. The elder warlock usually never sought him out personally, unless it is of something of grave importance. That usually meant danger.

"Earlier this week, i felt an uneasiness of sorts."

"Uneasiness, you say?"

"Yes. I used the viewing room to search for the answers to my worries. I apologize for doing such a reckless, and unauthorized action."

"There is no need. You did as i would have expected. So tell me, what did you find?"

There was a pause. The elder warlock looked over to where Mel lay, his eyes softly observing the child.

"... 'He' has arrived."

"... This certainly spells trouble."

"Absolutely, my lord. That, and the men of above have begun to mobilize their troops. This will not be a simple invasion. This is genocide."

"What are the counts?"

"The humans have amassed an army of a hundred thousand. 'He', has fifty keepers with him. Without counting his reinforcements, his troop size alone is close to a million."

This news did not please him one bit. He looked over to Mel. There was no way he could guarantee her safety in here. He looked back to the elder warlock.

"Send runners to the other Lords. Rally the keepers. Sound the horns of Quel'vastarof. We move before dawn. We will cut down the humans first, before making our stand against 'him'."

He commanded, standing up from his chair. The elder warlock bowed.

"As you command."

"Get Dais and Vestrof here immediately."

"Yes, my lord."

With his orders, the warlock turned and left the room. The dungeon lord walked over to his daughter's side, running his fingers through her soft silver hair. She does not need to face this nightmare. A few seconds later, the door swung open, with two figures walking in. The large imp with the scar over its right eye, and the rather large dragon who had some of its scales plucked off.

"We have come at your bidding, my lord."

The dragon said, lowering its head to him. The imp did the same.

"Vestrof, i have a very important mission for you. You are the most powerful dragon in the Eastern lands, and you have served me faithfully for nearly half of your life. I ask that you do me one last favour."

"I do not deserve such praise. I will do anything you ask, and i will not fail."

"I know you wouldn't.... The battle will begin soon. You must take Dais and Mel to safety."

"... If that is what you wish. But the battle-"

The dragon wanted to protest, but he silenced it with a glare.

"My daughter is far important than anything in this dungeon. She is hope of this land. She will succeed me when i fall. You, Vestrof, should know by now, what potential she has."

".... But your Excellency-"

"I will be fine. I wish for you to take her to the far East. As far as possible. There is a keeper there, an old friend of mine. Take her there, and guard her. That is the last order i will give you."

"... Yes, my lord."

The dragon agreed finally.

"Dais."

"Yes, my lord."

"You must make sure that Mel grows up safely. I will not tolerate failure. You are the strongest imp that i have created, therefore you are self-supplying in magic. Even if i should fall, you will not."

"My lord, such words are unnecessary."

"But it is. These are overwhelming odds stacked against us. If Mel should ask of my being.... tell her.... tell her that i have to take care of matters."

* * *

With the flapping of his giant wings, Vestrof took flight, on his back was Dais, securing the magically-induced sleeping Mel. He could only watch from the top of the battlements of the ruins. Nothing else. He continued to follow the dragon with his eyes, till it was nothing more than a speck in the horizon.

In the same direction, the sun was beginning to rise. He covered his eyes from the glare, not seeing the sun for ages. Now, it was time he face the light once more. The shifting sounds of feet echoed from the halls below. He looked over the walls, watching his creatures lumber out into the light, each ready to fight to the death.

Against the hundred thousand strong human army, his three hundred thousand strong force would be sufficient. By then, the other Lords from the other regions would have arrived to back him up. They owe him too much to let this go by. His eyes scanned the horizon, beyond the ruins from which his dungeon sat below. His creatures descended the slope, towards the main city, where the human army was already beginning to form a resistance.

To the right of the slope, another group of creatures emerged from the Earth, their flag bearers carrying a flag of a keeper under his domain. To the left, another keeper's forces emerged. Two out of the twenty keepers in his land had answered quickly. Others were bound to follow. But for now, it would do. The frail figure of Berilion glided up to him, who was dressed for battle, in black and blood red armour.

"My lord. All preperations are complete."

"Good. It is time we make our stand. Berilion, will you wield your forbidden magic once more?"

"At your call, my lord."

"... Let us march. To meet my father-in-law."


End file.
